


White Carnations

by lostwing (hukkasiipi)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-05-03 15:36:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5296787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hukkasiipi/pseuds/lostwing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroo goes to buy flowers and meets an interesting person</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic ever and I'm not a native English speaker, I really hope this is not terrible. Feel free to point out any mistakes!

Kuroo had been very busy for the whole day. He had had a lot to do in the first place, but when he had slept through his alarm by two hours, he knew the day was going to be hectic. So he was super grumpy and tired (even though he had got two hours extra sleep) and completely late from his not-so-well planned schedule. Now he had only one last errand to run, however, and then he would be completely free from his time-consuming family responsibilities.

The only thing that was left was luckily one of the easiest. Kuroo only had to go buy some flowers for his mom, so she could take them to her friend’s birthday party. Kuroo’s mom was totally cheating by not buying her present herself, but Kuroo had no choice but to obey. He wanted to eat after all.

Speaking of eating, Kuroo’s stomach grumbled loudly. He hadn’t eaten since the morning, and the sun was already setting down. He decided to go through his business quickly and then get a well deserved meal. Luckily there was a small flower shop near Kuroo’s home. It was only about a ten-minute walk to his home.

A small bell rang when he entered the shop. He was currently the only customer in the small store. For a moment he thought he was there alone but then he noticed a small person behind the counter. The person was crouched over a small handheld console and didn’t bat an eye when Kuroo entered the shop. He had an interestingly coloured hair, blonde with black roots, but Kuroo couldn’t see his face.

Kuroo coughed to get the person’s attention and walked to the counter. He jumped a little when the boy turned to look at him. He had the most piercing eyes Kuroo had ever seen, they were golden and shaped like a cat’s. Kuroo had never seen eyes like that on a human before. He seemed to be around Kuroo’s age, Kuroo noted. The boy tilted his head a little bit, and Kuroo realized that he was supposed to say something.

“Um, I’m looking for some flowers?” Kuroo blurted out. What a stupid thing to say considering he was currently in a flower shop. The other boy just nodded.

“What kind of flowers? Are they for a special occasion?” He had a soft, quiet voice which fit in the shop’s atmosphere quite perfectly.

“Yeah, they are for my mom’s friend’s birthday. She sent me to get some flowers because she was busy,” Kuroo explained.

“Okay. Um, you can just look around the shop for something nice, or I can help you pick something, if you want." The boy did not look like he was very keen on browsing through the flowers with Kuroo so he decided to spare the boy and let him continue his video game while he looked around the shop alone.

“I think I can find them by myself. You have to tell me their meanings, though. I don’t want my mom to give her friend a flower that means “you smell” or something like that. I did that once.” Kuroo grinned for the memory. At the time it had been super embarrassing considering the person the flowers were given to was a botanist himself. Now it was more of a funny thing he had done years ago but he still wasn’t planning on repeating it.

The blonde’s lips curved just so slightly and he tried to hide it behind his bangs that were hanging in front of his face. Cute.

“I’ll check them for you, then,” the boy said. Kuroo flashed a new grin.

“Thanks, dude. I’ll go hunt down some flowers now, then.” The boy nodded, and Kuroo walked towards the first shelf containing flowers. There were so many of them. Considering the shop’s size from the outside, it seemed pretty impossible to fit so goddamn many different kinds of flowers in there. Kuroo was completely lost.

After wandering around the shop in total confusion for a while, Kuroo noticed that the boy behind the counter was observing him. He seemed rather amused but quickly looked away when he saw Kuroo looking at his direction. So it was clear that Kuroo didn’t know what he was doing. It wasn’t his fault that all the flowers were so different and weird-looking. Besides, how was he supposed to know what people brought to birthday parties. Nobody had ever given him flowers, after all. Had he really done this before? How could he have survived that? Kuroo surrendered and walked back to the counter.

“I give up. I cannot find them by myself. Do you know what kind of flowers people bring to birthday parties? Is that even normal or is it just my mom?” he sighed and scratched his nose. This was supposed to be a quick affair. The other boy just hummed.

“My mom does that too. She owns a flower shop, though, so I guess it’s no wonder.” The boy fiddled with a piece of string in his hands and looked somewhere around Kuroo’s left shoulder. He seemed to be a bit reserved. Or maybe just awkward. Or both. But for some reason, Kuroo liked the boy already.

“Your mother owns the shop? Does she know you play videogames while working?” Kuroo asked innocently. The boy’s lower lip pouted slightly.

“If nobody needs help with anything, why shouldn’t I be allowed to play? It’s boring just sitting still without doing anything. And nobody has ever complained about it.” His eyes narrowed a little. “Except for you.” 

Kuroo brought his hand to his chest.

“I wasn’t complaining. Just asking fair questions. Now I need help, though, so could you put your game away for a while.” Kuroo smiled again. This person seemed interesting.

The boy nodded and jumped from his chair and walked around the counter. Kuroo couldn’t help following his movements with his eyes. They were so smooth and graceful. The boy was quite short and wearing a green apron which had some brown dirt stains on it.

“Do you have any idea of what you want,” he asked, and Kuroo shook his head.

“Nope.”

“Okay,” the boy sighed. “What about those?” He pointed at some strange looking blue flowers on the next shelf.

“You just picked something at random, didn’t you?” Kuroo quessed. The boy huffed.

“No, I didn’t. Those are irises, they mean good news or something like that. I think they should be an okay thing to give someone at their birthday.” The boy walked over to the blue flowers and picked one up. “And they have a nice smell, too. Try it.” 

The boy brought the flower right to Kuroo’s nose, and Kuroo jumped a little. The smell was actually pretty nice. He then made the mistake of looking at the boy again. He was standing close, his intense eyes observing Kuroo. And he was holding a flower right to Kuroo’s face. Kuroo could feel a tiny flush creeping on his cheeks. Weird. The boy probably noticed but he didn’t say anything.

“Yup,” Kuroo said. “Smells good. Um, I’ll just go with these then, right? How many should I get? Like ten?” He scratched his neck. Why was he feeling so embarrassed from buying flowers?

The boy studied the label under the flowers.

“You can get ten with 1 200 yen. Should I tie you a bouquet?”

“I have no idea whether that’s cheap or expensive, to be honest. But I’ll take them anyway, please,” Kuroo shrugged. The boy nodded and chose ten good looking flowers from the shelf. Then he carried them to the counter and took out scissors and some string. The boy tied the flowers together with experienced hands and picked a small card from somewhere under the table. He attached it to the bouquet and pulled out a pen.

“Do I write something on the card? What’s your name? Or your mom’s name, I guess.”

Kuroo shook his head.

“Nah, she can write it herself. My name is Kuroo Tetsurou, by the way.” He held out his hand. “Nice to meet you!”

The boy looked at his hand skeptically but, after some hesitation, took Kuroo’s hand and shook it. His hand was pleasantly cool and soft.

“Kenma. Umm, Kozume Kenma. Nice to meet you too, I guess”, he answered uncertainly. Kuroo grinned. Kenma,huh? It fit him. Kenma smiled a little when he handed Kuroo the flowers.

Kuroo didn’t feel so tired anymore when he exit the shop.


	2. Chapter 2

Kuroo was heading towards the flower shop again. It had been three weeks since his first visit. For some reason thoughts about returning to the little store had been bugging in the back of his mind constantly. He had even told his best friend about it. Their conversation was what had brought him here today, actually.

Kuroo turned at a corner and smiled when the store appeared in his view. The flower shop looked cozy even from outside. It had some vines climbing up its front wall and two pots of flowers were hanging on each side of the door. On the left side of the door was a waist-high cat statue with a bell hanging from its neck. He gave the head of the statue a little pet when he passed it.

Kuroo opened the door to the shop and a small bell jingled over his head. He let his eyes wander around the small store. This time there were a few other customers there besides him. Two girls were patrolling the aisle containing different types of cacti, it seemed, and an old woman was looking at some yellow flowers. And then there was Kenma, sitting behind the counter, gaming console in hand. No surprises there. Kuroo thought and walked to him.

“Hello, Kozume-san. I’m here again.” Smooth. Kozume didn’t probably even remember Kuroo. He had been there once before and that had been three weeks ago. And Kuroo had just greeted him like they knew each other or something. Oh well.

Kozume looked up from his game and eyed Kuroo.

“Ah, Kuroo-san. Welcome back. Did your mom’s friend like the flowers?” So he remembered him. And even his name. That was good. Kuroo grinned.

“I didn’t dare to ask. But nobody complained to me, so I guess it’s fine,” Kuroo said. Kozume hummed and nodded.

“Hmm… That’s good, then. Um, are you looking for something today as well?” he asked. Kuroo nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes! I need a pet cactus!” He exclaimed. Kozume looked at him a bit weirdly. He was maybe almost-smiling though.

“Okay…”

“Mm-hm. You see, my friend told me that I would kill any plant in less than a week. And that’s not true at all, and I gotta show him that. But, the thing is, I have never taken care of a plant before. And even though I'd be a great caretaker for any plant, I want to minimize the risk of me accidentally wasting an innocent life and forwarding the climate change or something!” Kuroo flapped his arms around for good meazure. Kozume was definitely smiling now. He nodded his head slowly.

“So that’s why you need a pet cactus, then.”

“That’s right! Kozume-san, I need your help. This is extremely important!”

“I believe it is. We have a lot of different cactuses over there,” Kozume pointed to the shelves the two girls were at. “Ah, Kuroo, can you move aside for a moment? I think Sako-san wants to pay.” Kozume said suddenly and turned towards the old woman who was standing behind Kuroo. Kuroo moved and let the old lady put her flowers to the counter.

“Thank you, Kenma-chan. I’m sorry for interrupting you and your friend,” the lady said to Kozume.  
“It's fine, Sako-san. Will this be all?” Kozume said. He didn’t deny them being friends, Kuroo noted. That was good.

“Yes, dear. Thank you. Tell Katsumi her flowers are beautiful as ever, will you.” She paid for her flowers and said goodbye to Kozume. Then she turned at Kuroo and said, “Bye, Kenma-chan’s friend. You have an interesting hair, I have to say.” She grabbed her flowers and exited the shop. Kuroo was baffled.

“Did she just make fun of my hair. You have very rude customers here, Kozume-san,” he exclaimed. Kozume turned his head sideways and hid his smile behind his bangs. “And now you’re making fun of my hair too, aren’t you. Unbelievable. This is bad customer service, Kozume-san!”

“Your hair is funny, though. But anyway, I’m guessing you want a cactus that is as hard to kill as possible? Though, if you manage to kill any of these cactuses in a week, I don’t think you should get any other plants. Ever.” Kozume stated.

“What a horrible thing to say, Kozume-san. I am not going to kill anybody! How can you even imply anything of the sort?" Kuroo complained. "Do you happen to have any cactuses that will live if you don’t water them for a week? I'm just curious for no particular reason.” Kuroo asked Kozume. He nodded.

“Almost all of them. Do you want my help picking one?” He offered. Kuroo looked at his gaming console and grinned. Kozume probably was playing far too much. He needed to do some work once in a while. And Kuroo really wanted to continue talking to him.

“Yes, please,” he answered. Kozume glanced at him. He most likely saw right through Kuroo with his cat-like eyes. He sighed and put his console away.

“Okay.”

“So, what cactus would you pick as a pet?”

 

 ***

 

 Kuroo set two small cactuses on his desk. He almost pet one but luckily stopped his hand before it could touch the plant. In the end he had ended up buying two, one was tall and spiky, other was a small fluffy ball. Even the fluffy on could sting, though, he had tested. It actually hurt more than the taller one. Kozume had looked at him like he was an idiot when he was testing the cactuses. Maybe he was.

Kuroo grabbed his phone and shot his friend Bokuto a picture of the cacti, accompanied with a triumphant text. Then he took a look at the cacti again. Did they need water right away? Had he really forgotten to ask Kozume about watering the plants? What had they even been talking about?

Kuroo got a glass of water and poured some carefully over both of the plants. How much was he supposed to put in there? Should the soil be completely wet? Wait, did he need to spray them or something? Some people watered plants like that, he remembered. He didn't have a spray bottle anyway, though. Could plants die if they were watered the wrong way? What if he gave them too much water? Could plants drown? Why was this so hard? And why didn’t he ask these questions when he was still in the flower shop?

Kuroo gave up the watering, the cacti had some water now, at least. Then he moved both of the plants so that sunlight was hitting them. Cactuses lived in deserts, so they presumably needed a lot of sunlight, he figured. Then he took two deep breaths. He could do this. He could keep these plants alive!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is shorter than the others sorry

With no more watering and some instructions from the internet, the cacti were still alive four days later. Kuroo had ceremoniously named them Martha and Rebecca. Bokuto had told him the names were stupid but he didn’t care. During the last couple of days Kuroo had come to love his new spiky pets. At first he had planned to keep them alive for a week and then get rid of them, but now he knew he was going to keep them as long as he could.

 

 ***

 

 Kuroo was heading towards his home after visiting his favourite bookshop. He realised that the flower shop was just around the corner. Without thinking, his feet carried him to the shop’s door. Kuroo smiled to the cat statue and entered the shop. He immediately looked at the counter Kozume usually sat at. An old woman was sitting at it and Kuroo felt a pang of disappointment. The woman smiled at Kuroo and he politely smiled back.

 

Kuroo looked around the shop. There were a few customers here and there. Not wanting to stand awkwardly in the doorway, Kuroo walked further into the store.

 

He was looking at more cacti when he heard the door to the backroom open. He glanced over and felt a smile creeping its way to his face when he saw Kozume-san walk in while looking at his phone. He walked to the old woman behind the counter and said something to her. The woman stood up and walked out the door Kozume had entered from. Kozume settled on the chair she had left empty and continued looking at his phone.

 

Kozume hadn’t noticed Kuroo yet but he raised his head when he heard him approach. He looked a bit surprised to see him there again but quickly nodded his head and greeted him politely.

 

“Good afternoon. You haven't managed to kill the cacti already, have you?”

 

Kuroo scratched his neck and grinned. “No no. They’re alive and well, I think.”

 

Kozume tapped something on his phone and raised an eyebrow at Kuroo. “You think?”

 

“Well,” Kuroo said defensively. “You can't really ask them how they are doing since they can’t  talk. They look exactly like they did when I bought them so they are fine, right? I watered them once.”

 

“They should be okay. Unless you have given them some weird kind of deadly disease, of course.” kozume put his phone down and directed his whole attention to Kuroo. Kuroo felt a little honoured at that. The feeling disappeared quickly when his brain registered Kozume’s words.

 

“That can happen? On no, the YouTube videos I watched said nothing about diseases. How can you know if they're sick? I don't want Martha and Rebecca to die, I just got them, they’re too young to die!” Kuroo paused his rambling when he saw the look on Kozume’s face. It was a mix somewhere between incredulous and amused. Kuroo realised his cacti were not in mortal danger at all. “How could you say something like that, Kozume-san? I thought my darlings would die!”

 

Apparently Kozume decided to ignore Kuroo’s weird monologue. “You gave your cactuses names?” he asked.

 

“Yes. The tall one is Martha and the fluffy one Rebecca.” Kuroo was very proud of those names. “My friend said they sounded stupid, but I think they fit perfectly. He would have me call them Stuart and Hoot Hoot. How stupid is that!”

 

Kozume smiled a little. It seemed like all his expressions were faint and hard to read but that just made all his smiles mean more to Kuroo.

 

Kuroo stayed at the shop for half an hour, just talking about this and that with Kozume. Kuroo did most of the talking, Kozume just listened and commented here and there. Kuroo didn’t seem to bother Kozume, though, since Kuroo made him smile eight more times. He kept count.

 

Kuroo also learned some things about Kozume. His mother owned the flower shop and he worked there most days to help her but also to get some money. He liked playing video games. His favourite animal was cat and favourite colour red. His favourite flowers were rues even though they meant sorrow, and he had never eaten green tea ice cream. Kuroo memorised all  the little facts he learned. He also decided to take Kozume to eat green tea ice cream someday, but he didn’t dare to ask it yet.

 

Later, when Kuroo was walking home, he realised that he hadn’t bought anything, and Kozume hadn’t said a thing about it. He really hoped that he was more than just a random, weird customer to Kozume. Well, he would see, since he was definitely going there again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably my favourite chapter so far ~ 
> 
> Thanks for comments and kudos!

 

“So,” Kuroo said. “Do you ever _do_ anything besides sitting there and helping an occasional customer. How many of your working hours are spent playing video games?”

 

He was sitting on a stool next to Kozume’s counter. Kozume was lying against the counter, tapping something on his phone and glancing at Kuroo every so often. They were alone in the store at the moment, had been for the past twenty-five minutes, and Kozume hadn’t moved a muscle the whole time.

 

Kuroo had come to the shop after returning from volleyball practise. He had been lucky, since Kozume had been working there again today. Kozume hadn’t commented Kuroo’s repetitive visits at all, which was good since Kuroo wasn’t sure how he would have explained them.

 

“What exactly should I be doing?” Kozume asked, eyes not leaving the phone screen.

 

Kuroo thought for a moment. “Well,” he said “this is a flower shop. Shouldn’t you, I don’t know, be watering the plants, or something. I’ve never seen you do that.”

 

Kozume didn’t answer. He was particularly Not Answering the question, Kuroo noted, grinning. “Ha, you should! You are totally going to kill them all.”

 

Kozume sniffed. “It’s far too much trouble. And besides, I’m training them.”

 

Kuroo raised an eyebrow. “Training the plants? For what, exactly?”

 

Kozume looked up from his phone and said in a serious tone; “People always forget to water the plants they buy, so  they have to learn to survive without water.” He nodded as clarification and looked back to his phone.

 

Kuroo snorted loudly. “I think you are just lazy.”

 

Kozume shrugged.

 

“I have taken good care of my cacti, by the way. Just so you know.”

 

“I bet you have.”

 

Kuroo stretched on his chair and looked around the shop. There was a big watering can next to a shelf containing different kinds of roses. It was blue and there were yellow suns and tiny red flowers painted all over it. It looked handmade. Kuroo stood up and walked to it. He picked it up and felt water sloshing around inside.

 

Kuroo placed it on the counter right in front of Kozume’s face. Kozume looked up to Kuroo with an annoyed expression. “What now?” His voice was so irked Kuroo gave out a small laugh.

 

He gestured toward the can like Kozume obviously didn’t know it was there. “You’ve gotta water the plants,” he grinned, laughter still present in his voice.

 

Kozume let out a sigh which was about twice as long as his normal sighs. He stood up nevertheless, and walked around the counter picking the watering can up on his way. He strolled to the roses and begun carefully pouring water over every flower. Kuroo had never seen anybody look so grumpy while watering flowers, but then again, he hadn’t seen that many people water flowers anyway. Kuroo let out an amazed gasp.

 

Kozume leered at him. “What?”

 

Kuroo grinned. “Oh, I just never thought I’d ever see you actually working. This is like a miracle to me.”

 

Kozume pointed at the door. “You can leave now.”

 

Kuroo burst out laughing and he could see that Kozume was smiling too.

  


 

 

After Kozume had finished watering the flowers they settled back to the counter. Kozume pulled a PSP from somewhere and started to play something. Kuroo started humming along the game’s music and Kozume glared at him. He’s about to say something when the shop’s door slammed open. A dark haired woman entered and Kozume quickly hid his console under the counter.

 

The woman sauntered in and Kuroo took notice of her disheveled appearance. Her hair was in a loose ponytail but there were bits and pieces sticking out in every direction. She was wearing old old jeans and huge rubber boots. The woman promptly sat on the floor, closed her eyes, leaned her head back, and groaned loudly. Kuroo didn’t even try to hide his staring.

 

“Kenmaaa,” the woman whined. There was some incoherent mumbling after that. She was now lying in the floor in some sort of starfish position. Kuroo had no idea about what was going on. Kozume just looked completely done with everything.

 

“Umm…” Kuroo started.

 

Kozume shook his head. “Just let her lie there.”

 

Kuroo was going to ask him… Well, he wasn’t even sure what he was going to ask. He didn’t get to ask it anyway, since the woman started to talk again.

 

“You are sooo lucky. I want to be young again. You don’t have to worry about Sato’s stupid wedding flowers. Or that weird guy who wants to get three hundred frangipanis for some reason. What’s up with that guy, anyway? We don’t have any frangipanis. I have never even seen a frangipani. I want to pretend to work and play video games instead like you do. You even get paid. Can we switch places?”

 

Kozume clicked his tongue. “I’ll have you know that I just finished watering the flowers before you came here.”

 

The woman opened her eyes and stared at Kozume. “You? Doing work? I don’t believe it.”

 

Kuroo snorted. Kozume’s nose scrunched up. The woman jumped a little and peered at Kuroo from the floor. “Oh, hi. Who might you be?”

 

Kuroo grinned. “Kuroo Tetsurou. Nice to meet you.”

 

The woman dragged herself up from the floor. “Nice to meet you, Kuroo-san. I don’t have any time to chat, though. I’ve gotta take care of some things.” She sighed. “A long list of things. Kenma, put these in the third locker for Mako-san.” She tossed Kozume a bunch of keys and strided to the door. “See you later!” She was gone in a blink of an eye.

 

The door slammed and the bell jingled. After that there was a complete silence in the shop. Kuroo processed things for a moment and then turned to stare at Kozume questioningly. Kozume just stared back.

 

Kuroo cleared his throat. “What,” he asked, “exactly just happened?” Kozume shrugged like that hadn’t been very, _very_ strange. Kuroo felt like pulling his hair out. “Who on earth was that?” he asked.

 

Kozume picked up the keys the woman had thrown him. “That was my mum…”

 

It took Kuroo a moment to take that in. “Well… “ he started slowly, “I can’t say I see the resemblance. She seemed… interesting.”

 

Kozume sighed. “She’s hopeless.”

 

That made Kuroo laugh. “She seemed really nice, though. A little chaotic, but nice.”

 

“That sums her up pretty well, actually. Chaotic, but nice,” Kozume mumbled offhandedly. Kuroo hummed.

 

Kozume looked at his phone and stood up. Kuroo raised an eyebrow.

 

“Whoa, whoa, Kozume-san! Are you going to do _more_ work?” he exclaimed loudly. Kozume jumped a little, and Kuroo immediately felt bad. He should learn how to keep his voice down.

 

Kozume scoffed. “It’s ten to eight. I’m going to check everything and close the shop.” He paused and frowned a little. “And you can call me Kenma if you want to.”

 

Now it was Kuroo’s turn to jump. He hopped from his chair. “What? Really?” he practically shouted. That much for keeping his voice down. “You sure that’s okay?” he asked in a more calm voice.

 

Kozume tiled his head slightly. “It’s not that big of a deal. Most people I know call me Kenma. It feels more comfortable, anyway.”

 

Kuroo tried to not show how happy he was. Kozume probably noticed, though.

 

“Alright then, Kenma.” Kuroo grinned and tested the word again. “Kenma!”

 

“If you are going to be weird about it I’ll take that back,” Kenma deadpanned.

 

Kuroo laughed. “Okay, okay. But, if I call you Kenma, you’ll have to call me by my first name, too!” Kenma’s nose scrunched up. “What, is there something wrong with my name?” Kuroo pretended to be wounded.

 

Kenma’s eyes focused on Kuroo’s, and Kuroo’s feet started to turn into jelly. Those eyes were truly fascinating.

 

“Yes,” Kenma replied. “It’s far too long.” He dropped his gaze, and Kuroo let out a shaky breath. He hadn’t even realized he had been holding his breath. Kuroo quickly pulled his thoughts back together.

“You are without fail the laziest person I’ve ever met,” he commented.

 

“Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has gotten so much more kudos and comments than I expected! Thanks a lot ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ
> 
> Also this fic is 95% dialogue

 

 

When Kuroo entered the flower shop for the third time that week he was surprised to see Kenma not playing anything on his handheld or phone. Instead  two books were placed in front of him and he was writing something in a notebook. He looked quite miserable.

 

Kuroo walked over and slumped on his stool next to Kenma's counter. The stool had unofficially become his, since he always sat there. He dropped his school bag next to it. His hair was still a bit wet from showering after volleyball practise so it was about twice as messy as usual.

 

“Whatcha doing?” he asked when Kenma blinked up from his notebook.

 

Kenma huffed. “Homework. I have to finish this paper today. I’m almost ready, though.”

 

Kuroo hummed. “Alright. I’ll let you finish that then. Does it bother you if I sit here?” he asked.

 

“If you are going to just stare at me, yes,” Kenma responded.

 

Kuroo laughed and reached for his bag. “No no, I’ve got a book I gotta read. It for school too, actually.” He shuffled through the bag for a moment before he found the book he was looking for. He pulled it out and dropped it on the counter.

 

Kenma hummed thoughtfully. “Hamlet? Is it good?”

 

“Yup. I’m surprised I haven’t read it before. I really like it lots,” Kuroo answered. The language in the book was a bit hard, but it was still pleasant to read. 

 

“Oh. Do you read a lot?” Kenma asked, still examining the cover of the book. He looked the same as he usually did. His weird-coloured hair was a bit messy (Nothing compared to Kuroo's, though.), and his sharp, golden eyes were intense as ever.

 

Kuroo grinned. “Yes, actually. Surprised?”

 

Kenma lifted his eyes to look at Kuroo. A shiver run through Kuroo's back. Kenma tilted his head slightly. “Not really. Let’s get to work, then.”

 

Kuroo nodded. “Right.”

 

 

***

 

  
About half an hour later Kenma finally closed his notebook and rested his forehead on the table. He gave out a long sigh.

 

Kuroo placed his bookmark and closed the book. “All done?” he asked. Kenma mumbled something against the countertop. It was adorable, honestly. “Sorry,” Kuroo grinned, “I didn’t quite catch that.”

 

Kenma rose his head up. “Yeah. It’s crap, but it's done, so whatever,” he repeated. “Sorry to make you wait so long.”

 

“Naw, it’s fine. This place is very peaceful, this is actually rather comfortable,” Kuroo answered. It was true. The shop’s calm atmosphere and the sound of Kenma’s pen scratching against paper made Kuroo feel cozy and relaxed.

 

Kenma gave him a dubious look. “You can’t be comfortable sitting on that stool.”

 

Kuroo stretched his back. “Hmm. I guess I’m feeling a bit stiff. I didn’t even realize before you pointed that out. Geez, thanks a lot.”

 

“You are welcome,” Kenma deadpanned. “Maybe you should walk around for a while. You could also water the plants while doing that,” he suggested.

 

“Are you trying to make me do your work for you?” Kuroo questioned smiling. This boy's laziness knew no bounds.

 

“Yes. Will you?”

 

Kuroo groaned. “Alright.”

 

Kenma gave him a smug grin.  
  


 

***

 

 

“So,” Kenma said after a while, toying with his pen, “I came up with a nickname for you.”

 

Kuroo raised his eyes from the flowers he was watering. “What? Why?”

 

Kenma shrugged. “You said you I should call you something else than Kuroo, didn't you?”

 

Kuroo put the watering can down and twirled around so that he was facing Kenma. He set his hands on his hips and raised one eyebrow. “So, tell me your new, superb nickname for me.”

 

Kenma briefly looked up from the pen and met Kuroo's eyes. “Kuro,” he said in an impassive tone.

 

Kuroo waited for a moment to see if Kenma was going to say anything else. It soon became apparent he wasn’t. “Did… did you just take off a letter of my name..?” he gaped at Kenma. Unbelievable. “What kind of nickname is that supposed to be?”

 

Kenma nodded. “I did. It suits you.” He gave out a sly grin. “And it’s shorter.”

 

Kuroo shook his head incredulously but couldn’t help grinning as well. “Incredible. Truly incredible. I can’t believe how creative person you are, Kenma.”

 

“Shut up, Kuro,” Kenma scoffed, but Kuroo could see that he was very pleased with himself.

 

“You know what?” Kuroo asked, grinning. Kenma made a questioning noise. “I kind of like it.”

 

Kenma smiled at him.

 

 

***

 

 

"Kenma?"

 

"What?"

 

"That man almost came in but then he turned away and left."

 

"He probably saw your hair and decided coming in wasn't worth it."

 

"How dare you?!"

 

"You're ruining our business, Kuro."

 

"I'm leaving."

  
  


***

 

 

“Have you read Frankenstein or Dracula?” Kenma asked when Kuroo sat back down.

 

Kuroo plopped his elbows on the counter and leant his head in his hands. “I’ve read both. Why do you ask?”

 

“I have to read one of them in school. Which one is better?”

 

Kuroo made a thoughtful noise. “I think I like the Frankenstein better. It has more…” Kuroo flailed his hand around trying to explain. “interesting plot and characters, I guess. I’m horrible at explaining things.

 

Kenma nodded. “I can see that. I’ll read that one, then. Thanks, Kuro.”

 

Kuroo smirked. “No problem. I think have a copy, do you want to borrow it?”

 

Kenma thought for a moment. “Nah, I’ll go buy a new copy this weekend. I’ll have to take a bus to the bookshop, though…”

 

“You don’t like taking buses?” Kuroo asked. Kenma’s nose scrunched up. “I guess not, but… WAIT A MINUTE!” Kuroo suddenly screeched.

 

Kenma gave him a confused blink. “What?”

 

“Did you just say I’m horrible at explaining things?”

 

“I would never.”

 

“Liar,” Kuroo accused. “ _Anyway_ , what I was going to say… I forgot. What were we talking about again?”

 

Kenma rolled his eyes. “Books. Taking the bus.”

 

“Oh,” Kuroo snapped his fingers. “There is this really nice bookstore about twenty minutes of walking from here. It’s not all that big, but it has a good stock of different books. I go there very often. It's cozy.”

 

“I’ll probably get lost if I try to find it by myself,” Kenma mumbled. “I have a terrible sense of direction.”

 

Kuroo raised one eyebrow. “My guess is that you keep looking at your phone or game and forget to pay attention to where you are going. Am I right?”

 

“...No.”

 

“I am!” Kuroo exclaimed. Kenma pouted slightly. Kuroo laughed at his expression, it was adorable. Suddenly Kuroo got an idea. He scratched his neck. “I could, um, come… with you? I know the way!” he offered. It came out a lot more awkward than he had intended. Oh well.

 

Kenma looked at him a bit weirdly but nodded anyway. “Okay. Is Saturday fine?”

 

“Yup. What time? Ten?” Kuroo asked. He was already excited for Saturday. Kenma grimaced. “Okay, not ten. I bet you usually play video games all night and then sleep till noon?” Kuroo teased.

 

“I can put an alarm…” Kenma mumbled.

 

Kuroo grinned. “And I'm right yet again! Alright. At eleven on Saturday, I’ll come pick you up… where?”

 

“Oh. Here. I live upstairs.”

 

Kuroo made a surprised noise. “Really? That’s cool! It’s all set then, don’t oversleep.”

 

“I’ll try not to.”

 

“That’s the spirit!”

 

“Yay.”

 

Kuroo laughed. He was _really_ excited for Saturday.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has gotten over 100 kudos.... This is so weird..
> 
> Thanks a lot for all the kudos and comments!!

 

Kuroo woke up at six thirty on Saturday morning. He lay in his bed for a while trying to fall asleep again but all his sleepiness had already disappeared. Kuroo groaned and got up. He walked to his window and looked outside. The sun was rising behind the buildings and the streets were empty. Kuroo grabbed his phone and snapped a picture of the sunrise. Then he carefully watered Martha and Rebecca, who were, miraculously, still alive and healthy.

 

Yawning Kuroo walked downstairs to get some breakfast. His parents were still fast asleep so he had to tiptoe down the stairs. He made a ragged omelette and poured himself a glass of orange juice. Then he sneaked back to his room and opened his laptop.

 

About halfway through his breakfast, Kuroo suddenly remembered what he had planned for today. Sparks of excitement flickered up his spine and he felt far too restless to just sit still. He quickly finished his breakfast and got ready for a morning run. Kuroo didn’t go running all that often outside of volleyball practise, but sometimes it was nice to take a break and go running by himself. It helped him clear his thoughts.

 

During his run Kuroo’s thoughts drifted to Kozume-, Kenma, he corrected himself, smiling. He wondered what Kenma was going to wear. Then, slightly panicked, what he was going to wear himself. He usually wore his normal clothes when he visited the flower shop. Would that be okay now? Oh god, what would they talk about? Usually their conversation flowed quite easily, with Kuroo talking and Kenma nodding along and answering occasionally. What if Kuroo couldn’t come up with anything to say. What if it would be super awkward?

 

Kuroo had to slow down to calm his beating hard. He had been speeding up until he was racing through the streets on full speed. He stopped and leaned panting against a building. He breathed deep through his nose and reorganized his thoughts. Everything would be okay. He had spent a lot of time with Kenma, of course it wouldn’t be awkward. And Kenma really didn’t seem like a person who would care about what Kuroo was wearing. It would be okay.

 

It was less okay again when he stood in front of his mirror after taking a shower. He was disbelievingly poking his hair which looked about ten times worse than it usually did. Kuroo brushed, and brushed, and brushed but it was to no avail. His hair hated him. After roughly thirty minutes of frustrated brushing and patting, he reluctantly decided to just leave it as it was. He pulled on his favourite jeans and a black t-shirt and looked himself up and down in the mirror. He didn’t look particularly great, but it was okay. Apart from his terrible hair, he looked clean and nice.

 

At ten o’clock he was nervously bouncing around his room. It would only take him about ten minutes to walk to the shop, but he was already anxious to leave.

“This is ridiculous,” he told Martha and Rebecca. The cacti didn’t answer.

 

 

***

 

 

Kuroo was standing in front of the flower shop’s door at ten fifty-four. He took a deep breath and opened the door. An old woman greeted Kuroo from behind the counter. Kuroo had seen her once before, her name was Kaya Yae, if Kuroo remembered correctly. She had been working in the shop for years, according to Kenma.

“Good morning,” Kuroo greeted her politely.

The woman smiled widely. “Morning. You are Kuroo-san, right? Are you waiting for Kenma?”

Kuroo was a little surprised that the woman knew his name but he nodded nevertheless. “Yes, I am. How did you know?”

“Hm? Oh, I believe that Kenma mentioned about it before. I’ve seen you around the shop, too. You visit quite often, I must say.”

Kuroo let out a nervous laugh and smiled. Apparently she had seen him many times, but he had only seen her once. Creepy. “Yeah, you could say that. This is a very nice shop. How long have you been working here?”

  
Kuroo and Kaya-san chattered for couple of minutes while waiting for Kenma. It was already two past eleven when Kenma emerged from the back door. Kuroo’s heart made a tiny jump when he looked at him. Instead of his usual plain work clothes, Kenma was now wearing skinny jeans and a beige hoodie with a tiny cat paw printed on it. He looked adorable.

 

Kuroo smiled at him sunnily while he made his way through the shop. Kenma greeted Kaya-san and then smiled to Kuroo gingerly.

“Let’s go.”

 

 

***

 

 

Walking with Kenma was a bit awkward at first. It was more due to Kuroo’s nervousness than a different setting, though. The awkwardness soon passed, however, and their conversation started to flow more freely. It was much the same than their usual conversations; Kuroo rambled about things, Kenma answered and pointed stuff out. It was comfortable.

 

Soon they reached the bookshop. Kuroo opened the door for Kenma because he was a gentleman. Kenma peered at him from behind his bangs and hummed his thanks as he entered the store. The bookshop had seen its better days but it had a calm and cozy atmosphere. Much like the flower shop, Kuroo realized.

Kenma was looking around the shop. “I didn’t know there was a bookstore here. It’s nice.” Kenma looked back at Kuroo. “Where do you think Frankenstein would be?”

Kuroo pointed at the back of the shop. “They have some classics there. Let’s check that first.”

Kenma nodded and they walked to the classics-shelf. Kuroo found Frankenstein almost immediately and pointed it to Kenma, who plucked the book out of the shelf and inspected it carefully. “That was fast. Do you want to look around for a bit?” he asked.

Kuroo hesitated a little. “You’d have to wait,” he pointed out.

Kenma pulled his phone out of his pocket. “That’s fine. It would be stupid to just leave after we walked all the way here. I’ll go pay this and wait there,” he said and pointed the bench near the shop’s entrance.

Kuroo nodded. “I’ll try to be quick,” he said, and Kenma left to pay his book. Kuroo smiled to himself. This had been genuinely fun so far, it was a shame it would be over so soon. Maybe he could spend some time in the flower shop afterwards.

 

About five minutes later Kuroo stepped to the cash register with a new, interesting-looking book in his hands. He paid for the book and walked to Kenma, who was furiously tapping something on his phone. He had a tiny put on his face and he frowned at the phone.

“Something wrong?” Kuroo asked and sat next to him.”

Kenma sighed. “No. This game is just really frustrating. I’ve been trying to beat this level for two days. Well, whatever,” he sighed and put the phone to his pocket. “Are you ready?”

“Yup,” Kuroo nodded. “I got this.” He showed the book to Kenma.

Kenma stood up and picked his bag from the floor. He hesitated for a moment before slowly asking: “Um, do you want to stop at a cafe before we go back? I haven’t eaten anything today.”

Kuroo grinned so hard his cheeks hurt. “Sure. Let’s go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally something else than only dialogue... It wasn't as hard to write as I thought it would be


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im not entirely happy with how this turned out but u can have it anyway

 

Kuroo and Kenma were slowly walking towards the flower shop after finishing eating at the cafe. They were quiet, both immersed in their own thoughts. Kuroo was very happy with how the day had gone, he had spent several hours together with Kenma, and now he felt all warm and fluffy inside.

 

After exiting the bookshop they had found a small cafe in a street corner. It wasn’t the one Kuroo used to go but their bagels had been pretty good. Kuroo had discovered that Kenma didn’t drink coffee at all, but that he really liked tea. Kuroo had learned many minuscule facts about Kenma during the day, and he savoured every single one in his mind. For some reason everything about Kenma seemed extremely important to him. It was like his mind had unconciously decided that it was necessary for him to learn as much as possible about the boy. 

 

Suddenly Kenma stopped walking. Kuroo stumbled a bit at the abrupt stop. “What is it?” he asked Kenma, who was now crouching down on the sidewalk.

 

“There’s a cat,” Kenma mumbled and stuck his hand forward. Kuroo looked where he was pointing and saw a ruffled black cat peering at them from a narrow alley between two buildings. The cat seemed to judge them for a moment and then stepped forward and let Kenma pet its head.

 

“Are you sure you should be petting that?” Kuroo asked carefully, eyeing the cat's messy fur. “It might carry infections or something.”

 

Kenma looked affronted. “It’s a cat. Of course I should pet it,” he announced matter of factly and turned his whole attention towards the cat, which started purring loudly. 

 

Kuroo couldn’t help but smile. Kenma was far too cute for his health. Kuroo pulled his phone out of his pocket and quickly snapped a picture of Kenma and the cat. Kenma turned to look at him and scrunched his nose a little but didn’t say anything. Kuroo repocketed his phone and crouched down to greet the cat.

 

The cat bumped Kuroo’s hand with its head and Kuroo scratced it behind the ears. “Hello, little buddy,” he murmured. The cat sneezed.

 

Kenma smiled. “It kind of looks like you,” he commented.

 

Kuroo snorted. “What part?”

 

Kenma smirked. “The hair part. And the face.” He held out his hand to flick Kuroo’s bangs from his face. Kuroo felt his heart freeze in his chest.

 

Kenma’s touch was light, and even though his fingers were cool, it felt like they were burning against Kuroo’s cheek. Kuroo swallowed and licked his lips nervously. Kenma’s eyes flicked down for a moment. Then they went wide and he pulled his hand back and turned towards the cat. There might have been a slight pink tint to his cheeks but Kuroo didn’t notice since he was still frozen in place, now blushing furiously. Had that really just happened?

 

Kuroo shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had it for Kenma, and he had it bad. He looked at Kenma, who was looking anywhere but Kuroo, hair conveniently covering his face. Kuroo felt his cheeks start reddening again. This was ridiculous, they were crouched down on the street in the middle of a sunny day, and he was red as a tomato. Plus, the cat was smirking at him, like it was laughing at his newly found problem. What a jerk.

 

Kuroo started to speak but no voice came out. The cat snorted and started sauntering back to the alley. Clearly they weren’t interesting enough anymore. Kuroo glared at the cat and cleared his throat. “Shall we go?” he asked. Kenma glanced at him from behind his bangs and nodded quickly.

 

Kuroo got to his feet and held his hand out for Kenma. He cursed inwardly the moment Kenma blinked up at him, eyes wide. Even if Kenma didn’t think he was weird before, now he definitely did so. Kuroo’s heart jumped a bit when Kenma grabbed his hand and pulled himself up. The blonde started walking without saying a word, and Kuroo was left behind gaping like a goldfish. He smiled widely and caught up with Kenma. This day had been very, very successful.

 

***

 

“So,” Kuroo started. “This was really fun.”

 

They were standing in front of the flower shop, ready to part ways. Kenma was fiddling with his bag. He nodded.

 

“Yeah. It was nice.” He opened his mouth to say something else but visibly stopped himself. “I should go.” Kenma raised his head to meet Kuroo’s eyes and smiled. “Come again soon.”

 

Kuroo nodded dumbly and waved as Kenma disappeared inside the shop. Kuroo turned to walk towards home, still a bit dazed. Kenma's smile was something else entirely.

 

***

 

**Me (16:31)**

Bro, help

 

**Bo (16:37)**

bro whats wrong??????

 

**Me (16:38)**

i think i have a crush

 

**Me (16:38)**

what do i do

 

**Bo (16:39)**

!!!!!!!!

 

**Bo (16:39)**

who is it?????

 

**Bo (16:39)**

bro u gotta tell me rn

 

**Bo (16:39)**

i need to know!!!!!!

 

**Bo (16:39)**

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

**Me (16:40)**

bro calm down

 

**Bo (16:40)**

not before u tell me!!!

 

**Me (16:41)**

Okay

 

**Me (16:41)**

So

 

**Me (16:42)**

his names Kenma

 

**Me (16:42)**

he's cute

 

**Me (16:42)**

like, really cute, bro you cant even believe

 

**Bo (16.43)**

bro…..

 

**Me (16:44)**

and he's smart, and even though hes very quiet  hes super nice to be around and hes got these glden eyes that make me all soft and mushy inside and hes got this really nice smile even tho he doesnt smile that much but when he does its like heavens open or something and he calls me kuro and its like the most adorable thing ever bro help me what do i DO

 

**Bo (16:45)**

bro

 

**Bo (16:45)**

youve got a problem bro

 

**Me (16:45)**

bro im aware

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (^・ω・^ )/


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found momentary inner peace while writing this chapter

 

 

“How are your cacti, by the way?”

“Martha and  Rebecca? They are fine,thank you for asking. Rebecca has grown about a half centimetre taller since I got her. I am very proud of them!”

Kenma hummed slowly and Kuroo yawned. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, Kuroo hadn’t had anything planned for the day so he had come to hang in the flower shop. Also he had really wanted to see Kenma even though they had met just yesterday. (He wondered if it was possible he had some sort of Kenma-addiction and if it was dangerous.)

So far the day had consisted of lazing around in the shop and quiet conversations about this and that. At some point Kenma was practically sleeping on his handheld. He had looked so serene and beautiful that Kuroo had had to take several deep breaths to calm his squeezing heart.

A sad beep came from Kenma’s PSP, and he banged his head on the table with a groan. Kuroo tried to surpass a smile and turned around to look at the shop to hide it. Colourful flowers filled his vision, as always, and he breathed deep to take in all the mismatched scents floating in the air. Kuroo sighed. He had really come to love this small shop at the corner of a busy street.

Kuroo noticed that someone had restocked one of the shelves next to the shop’s entrance. He stood up and walked closer to investigate. The shelf was filled with tiny watering cans, each with their own pattern. He picked one and inspected it closer. It had little red umbrellas painted on a blue background. It looked hand-painted.

“These are adorable,” he commented. “I’m going to buy one for my cacti.”

Kenma put his PSP down. “I put one aside for you," he told Kuroo. "Wait here, I’ll get it.” He stood up and disappeared to he backroom.

He came back a moment later and walked around the counter to where Kuroo stood. He handed him a watering can and smiled a little, eyes diverting towards the floor. 

Kuroo took a look at the small can in his hand. It was red and had cactuses and different coloured cat-heads painted around it. Kuroo laughed.

“This is awesome. Where did you even get this? It even has Martha and Rebecca, right there!”

Kenma was blushing slightly. “I painted it myself. I painted all of those.” He made a vague hand gesture towards the watering cans on the shelf.

Kuroo’s mouth fell open. “ _You_ painted these. Wow, that’s… These are awesome, Kenma! I didn’t know you could paint!”

Kenma smiled. “It’s just something I do for fun sometimes. I’m glad you like that, though.”

“How could I not, I love this. I’m definitely going to buy this and use it every day!” Kuroo beamed at him. Kenma, sweet and precious Kenma, had made something just for him. It felt like Kuroo's heart was soaring through the clouds.

Kenma dropped his gaze back to the floor and mumbled, “You don’t have to _pay_ for that. I made it for you anyway.”

“Oh.” Now Kuroo was definitely blushing too.

“And if you use it every day your cacti are going to die so don’t do that either,” Kenma smirked at him.

Before Kuroo could think any better, he wrapped his arms around Kenma in a tight hug. “Thank you,” he mumbled.

Kenma stilled for a moment before placing his arms lightly around Kuroo’s torso. He kept them there for a second before stepping away. “You’re welcome,” he mumbled.  He was going to say something else as well but stopped himself before voicing it.

Kuroo closed his eyes and swallowed as Kenma turned around and returned to the counter. He looked at the watering can again and felt warm tugging in his heart. Kenma's hands had been warm and comfortable and his hair smelled like fresh flowers. And he had hugged back.

 

 

Kuroo was setting himself back in his chair when the front door of the shop opened and Kenma’s mom stepped in. Kenma sighed, deep.

This time Kozume-san didn’t look so disorderly as last time, she was wearing a relatively tidy dress with her hair on a loose ponytail. She took a look around the shop, grinned widely and then walked to the counter Kuroo and Kenma were sitting at.

“Hi, boys. What are you doing?” she asked in a cheery voice.

“We were having fun before you came in,” Kenma mumbled.

Her mom snorted. “Be quiet, your negativity is spoiling the flowers.” She turned to Kuroo. ”Good afternoon, Kuroo-san! We met that one time before, right?

Kuroo nodded. “Yeah, you were busy then, so we didn’t talk much, though.”

“Ohh, that’s right. What a horrible day that was, I’m having flashbacks.” Kozume-san visibly shivered before continuing, “Anyway, I hear you’ve been around a lot lately, hmm?”

Kuroo laughed awkwardly and scratched his neck. “Um, yeah…?” Oh god, what was he supposed to say? Usually he was good at talking to strangers, but Kozume-san had same same intense eyes as Kenma did, and she was staring at him quite unnervingly.

Luckily he didn’t have to say anything, since Kozume-san smacked his back and laughed. “Oh, don’t be embarrassed, it’s good to have someone to make Kenma put down his console for a while and actually talk. He’s such a shut-in.” She turned to peer at Kenma, who just glared back.

Their staring contest lasted about thirty seconds before Kozume-san gave up. She put her hands on her hips and grinned wickedly. “Speaking of, it’s a beautiful day outside, and I _know_ you have been inside the whole day. Get out, both of you. I’ll take care of the shop.”

Kenma groaned but got up to his feet. “Fine. Let’s go to the backroom first,” he said to Kuroo, “I need to change before we go.”

Kuroo nodded and followed Kenma to the staff exit. Kuroo had never been to the backrooms before, so he was curious to see what they were like.

The door led to a large-ish room. There was a dinner table in the middle. Next to the table was a doorway to what appeared to be a small kitchen. On one wall was a row of small lockers and some shelves full of miscellaneous stuff. On the opposite wall was a stairwell leading to the second floor.

The flowers weren’t limited to just the shop part of the building, Kuroo noticed with delight. There were flowers on the dinner table, shelves and windowsills. There were also a couple of large palm tree looking things in the corners of the room.

“Thanks for your help in that awkward conversation, by the way,” Kuroo remarked as Kenma took off his apron and hung it on a rack.

“You were doing fine. Besides, I like watching you suffer,” Kenma smirked.

“Wow, you don’t look like a sadist to me, but looks can deceive, I guess,” Kuroo chuckled. “What are we going to do, anyway?”

Kenma sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe we should just go to sit in some cafe or something.”

Kuroo shook his head firmly. “Nope. Not going to happen.”

Kenma frowned. “What do you mean nope? Why not?”

“When your mom said to go outside, she meant doing sports or taking a walk or something.”

“I don’t really do sports. It’s exhausting,” Kenma informed.

Kuroo snapped his fingers. He had just had the greatest idea. “I know! Let’s go to the park to play volleyball. I can show you how to play!”

Kenma’s response was firm. “No.”

Kuroo pouted. “Kenmaaaaa. You might even like it. You don’t have to run or anything. It’s going to be fun!”

Kenma didn’t waver. “Still no.”

“Let’s do it just for a bit. If you don’t like it we can go to a cafe. Pleeeeease.”

Kuroo saw Kenma hesitate a bit and snatched his opportunity immediately. “Ha! You hesitated, I win!”

Kenma groaned. “Fine. We don’t have a ball though.”

“We’ll get  one from my place. Come on, let’s go!” Kuroo could already feel excitement bubbling in his chest. This was going to be fun. Hopefully.

“Calm down, I have to change first. You can wait here, I’ll try to be quick.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how comma rules work in english, by the way. I just stick them wherever seems appropriate. I hope they don't make reading hard ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't have answers

 

Five minutes later Kenma appeared back downstairs. He was wearing a red hoodie and a worn out pair of jeans. “Sporty,” Kuroo grinned.

“Shut up. Let’s go,” Kenma huffed and walked to the door. Kuroo followed him, still grinning.

They exited the shop from the front door after saying goodbye to Kozume-san. Or, in Kenma’s case, after annoyedly glaring at Kozume-san, who just smirked back and waved. Kenma and his mother had an interesting mother-son relationship, Kuroo thought with a smile.

When outside, Kuroo matched his long steps with Kenma’s shorter ones and started leading them towards his house. He noted the grey clouds gathering in the sky. Hopefully it wouldn’t rain. Knowing Kenma it would be impossible to get him outside even in the smallest drizzle. Kuroo glanced at the shorter boy, who was walking with his hands in his pockets, loose hair swaying along his steps. The small smile on his lips made Kuroo’s chest fill with warmth. In hindsight, Kuroo would probably be fine staying inside too. Lately he had come to realize that he was generally happy anywhere near Kenma, wherever that might be. He decided not to ponder on what that meant any longer, lest he’d come to some unwanted conclusion.

Apparently Kuroo had spaced out for a moment, because when he came to, he noticed that Kenma was staring back at him, one eyebrow raised in question. Kuroo flashed a winning smile and looked away. Kenma snorted but looked pleased with Kuroo’s answer anyway. It was amazing how easy it was to have a conversation with Kenma without speaking nowadays. Kuroo had definitely become better at reading Kenma’s expressions too, though he was sure most of the hidden nuances still escaped him.

  
  


 

After about fifteen minutes of walking they reached Kuroo’s house. Hopefully nobody was home at the moment. Kuroo didn’t particularly have anything against his parents meeting Kenma, but it would probably be kind of awkward since  as far as he knew, Kenma wasn’t into socializing with strangers at all. Kuroo jostled the door open (the hinges were a bit rusty) and ushered Kenma inside.

“Pardon the intrusion,” Kenma mumbled and, after they had taken off their shoes, followed Kuroo into the living room. The room was quite small but the large windows on the back wall made it seem clean and spacious. Lured by their noises, Tiger decided to come meet the stranger. She peeked from her condo-thingy, which was located in the furthest corner of the room, and made a curious sound.

Kenma let out a delighted gasp. “You have a cat?” He crouched on the carpet and stuck his hand toward Tiger.

Kuroo snickered at his enthusiasm. “I didn’t tell you that before? Yeah, we have had her for, like ten years or something. Her name is Tiger.”

Kenma, who was now scratching the purring cat behind the ears, gave Kuroo a blank stare. “You named a white cat Tiger?”

Kuroo put a hand on his chest, feigning offendedness. “How dare you? Tigers are awesome? Anyone can be a tiger.”

“Sure.”

Kuroo waited in silence as Kenma pet the cat. After couple of minutes, however, it became clear that Kenma had no intentions to stop anytime soon. Tiger seemed like she was having the time of her life, and Kenma seemed pretty happy too, so Kuroo decided to let them have their fun a bit longer.

“Want anything to drink?” he asked.

Kenma made and unintelligible noise. Kuroo snorted. “Alright. I’ll bring you some water.”

Kuroo walked into the kitchen chuckling to himself. Kenma really did love cats.  
  


 

“Y’know,” Kuroo said when he walked back to the living room. “I’ve been wondering. Why don’t you have a cat? You seem to like them _a lot_. Here.” Kuroo passed Kenma a glass of water and sat on the sofa sipping from his own glass.

Kenma blinked in surprise. “Oh, thank you. Um, mom’s allergic, so we can’t. But I’ll probably get one someday. Cats are great.” He smiled faintly.

“Hmm.” Kuroo hummed. “Y’know, you kinda remind me of a cat.”

Kenma stared at him. “...Okay.”

“No, really. Like, you’re lazy, but in a cute way, and...”

Kenma’s eyebrows rose. Kuroo started to sweat. What was he even trying to say? He should just shut up already. This was far too embarrassing for both parties involved.

“And, and! You’re kind of hard to approach at first but then when you get to know someone you’re actually awesome. And! Your eyes! They totally remind me of a cat’s, they’re so cool! And-” Well, never mind then. Kuroo was too scared to look at Kenma’s reaction, so he decided to study the wall instead.

“Kuro.”

“Yeah?” Kuroo squeaked.

“Shut up.”

Kuroo dared a peek. Kenma wasn’t looking at him, but Kuroo noticed his cheeks were tinted red. No doubt his own were as well.

“Okay,” he whispered and sat there in silence for several minutes, watching Kenma pet Tiger and wondering what on earth was wrong with the connection from his brain to his his mouth, since it clearly wasn’t working anymore.

  
  


 

“Wait! We were supposed to play volleyball!” Kuroo exclaimed suddenly, forgetting his earlier embarrassment. “I totally forgot!”

Kenma sighed and muttered something under his breath.

Kuroo squinted at him. “Oh, were you trying to stall for time? Your evil plan has been discovered, it won’t work anymore! Let’s go!”

“Do we have to?” Kenma complained. “We could just... stay here?”

“Good try. Nope, I was promised volleyball, and I’m gonna get it. No complaints!”

“...Fine.”

“I’ll go get the ball. Wait, wanna see Martha and Rebecca?” Kuroo realized he had just invited Kenma to his room and cringed inwardly. Oh well…

Kenma nodded. “Sure.”

“You’re just trying to buy more time, aren’t you?”

“Obviously.”

Kuroo snorted. “Come on, then.”

Kuroo led Kenma up the stairs and into his room. Kenma stopped at the door and looked around the small bedroom with curiosity. Kuroo winced when he noticed the half-eaten piece of pizza sitting on his desk. Otherwise the room was pretty clean, though. There were no dirty clothes lying around, thank the gods, and everything was more or less in its place.

“...Why do you have a painting of jellyfish on your wall?” Kenma finally asked.

“Because,” Kuroo said and walked to the painting, “jellyfish are hella cool.”

“Did you just say hella?” Kenma asked and scrunched his nose in disgust.

“Nope, you must be hearing things. Anyway, look at my darlings there. Aren’t they beautiful?” Kuroo pointed toward his window where Martha and Rebecca resided.

Kenma walked to the windowsill and examined the cacti. “Oh,” he said faintly, “you actually managed to keep them alive.

Kuroo gasped in astonishment. “You dared to doubt me? I did a lot of research to keep my beauties well and happy. I can confidently say that they are among the happiest plants in whole Tokyo.”

“Did you know that you are very weird.”

“Oh, you love it.”

Kenma paused. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Kuroo picked up a volleyball from his floor and tossed it to Kenma, who eyed it in distaste. “Ready to exercise?” he asked and laughed at Kenma’s affronted expression. “Let’s go!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come kick me in a couple of months if i haven't updated yet

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
